University of Wisconsin-Madison 2026 Spring Symposium
Title: (Dis)Ruption: Rhetoric of Response and Ability
Sponsored by ARTSM
How do (dis)ruptions—social, bodily, political, technological—reconfigure assumptions about rhetorical agency, ability, and responsibility from our past to our current political terrain? How does (dis)ruption reposition rhetoric as a response, yet intentional? What does rhetorical ability mean when agency is relational or asymmetrical? (Dis)ruption as a condition through which rhetoric operates as response—ethical, affective, and relational—rather than as sovereign intention or instrumental persuasion. Taking up Diane Davis’s concept of response-ability, rhetoricity is understood as the affectability or persuadability that conditions symbolic action. In this case, exchange does not give rise to solidarity or community; instead, it remains dependent upon a prior sharing and response-ability that precede and exceed symbolic action. In this framing, rhetoric is understood not simply as a human capacity to persuade, but as a relational encounter that precedes deliberation and exceeds stable identities.
In this student-only symposium, the University of Wisconsin-Madison RSA Student Chapter, in sponsorship with Association for the Rhetoric of Science, Technology, and Medicine (ARTSM), invites undergraduate and graduate scholars of rhetoric to submit their work that speaks to, uses theories from, and/or adds to our knowledge about rhetoric’s responsiveness to alterity, vulnerability, and difference. Since students are the future of the discipline, we are all always already engaged in a rhetoricity that seeks to intersect humanness and persuasion. As our discipline, methods, and objects are diverse, you can interpret our call how you will—if you have a paper or an idea that you’re excited about and you don’t feel like it fits this theme exactly, you are still encouraged to submit.
Once again this year’s symposium will take place entirely online, offering not only UW-Madison’s rhetoricians but also rhetoricians across the RSA’s student chapters, the opportunity to participate without having to travel. This virtual symposium will take place from Thursday, April 9 – Friday, April 10, 2026. There is no fee to submit, present, or attend.
We invite students at both the graduate and advanced undergraduate level to submit:
● Individual papers: Please submit a 250-word abstract, along with 3-5 keywords describing your proposed paper. [LINK TO FORM]
● Proposals for collaborative panels. Please include a 400-word abstract and 3-5 keywords describing the panel, plus 1-2 sentence descriptions of each individual speaker’s contributions. [LINK TO FORM]
To further ease your ability to join us at this symposium, we invite those of you who are presenting at the RSA Conference in May in Portland, OR to submit your abstract and use this symposium as an opportunity to prepare and get feedback on your presentation from your graduate student peers. Please note any scheduling conflicts in your submission form.
If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to RSA UW Madison Student Chapter presidents:
Alexandra Chakov (chakov) and Hsuan-I Huang (hsuani.huang)
Please submit your abstracts by March 1, 2026.
DUSTIN A. GREENWALT
Assistant Professor
HE/HIM/HIS
SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION STUDIES
MAIL CODE 6605
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
2002A COMMUNICATIONS BUILDING 1100 LINCOLN DRIVE
CARBONDALE, ILLINOIS 62901
Dustin.Greenwalt